ALPS OF ALBANIA NATIONAL PARK

This national park (Parku Kombëtar Alpet e Shqipërisë) is the largest in the country. Established in 2022, it extends over 828 ^km2 along the Montenegro-Kosovo border between the Vermosh and Gashi valleys. It encompasses most of the Albanian Alps, including the Gashi Nature Reserve (30 ^km2), part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site; the former national parks of Theth (26 ^km2) and Valbona Valley (80 ^km2); and the former Nikaj-Mërtur Regional Nature Park (175 ^km2). Despite the virtual absence of park rangers, this area is still well preserved: thanks to its isolation, the region has so far escaped the wave of deforestation affecting the country. The park boasts grandiose landscapes, with numerous peaks over 2,000 m in altitude, dominated by Mount Jezerca (2,694 m), the country's second-highest mountain after Mount Korab. There are also major rivers, caves and thirty glacial lakes. The flora is particularly rich, with some 1,600 species, a hundred of which are rare and/or endemic, such as the Albanian tulip(Tulipa albanica), which grows only in the Albanian Alps. There are three types of forest: oak forests between 600 and 800 m altitude (hairy oak, oriental hornbeam, hop hornbeam, wild dogwood and flowering ash), beech forests between 900 and 1,900 m altitude (common beech, white fir, Bosnian pine and sycamore maple) and alpine forests between 1,900 and 2,300 m altitude (Bosnian pine, juniper, dwarf juniper and willow).

Bears, chamois and trails. The park's fauna includes a dozen bears and around 50 chamois, as well as roe deer, wild goats and rare wolves. Almost extinct in the rest of the country, some large birds of prey are still preserved here. This is the case of the griffon vulture and the golden eagle, of which a few pairs can be observed. Other birds include the red-backed shrike, capercaillie and rock partridge. Among reptiles, watch out for the ammodyte viper. The four main settlements in the park are the villages of Vermosh, Theth and Valbona and the town of Bajram Curri. The trails are numerous and relatively well maintained and/or marked by local residents and associations. Many are part of the Peaks of the Balkans trail network between Albania, Montenegro and Kosovo.